HS Produkt is a company that manufactures pistols and rifles and is one of the best examples of how Croatia can
largely contribute to the development of the economy, especially when it is a question of companies that manufacture military equipment and armament.
Company began with the workmanship and production of pistols in 1991, at the time when Croatia was in the grip of war, with an insufficient number of machines and expert labour force. Yet, they managed to produce very quickly the first Croatian pistol PHP. At the very beginning, the only buyer of PHP was the Croatian Ministry of Defense.
Since they were buying their product and provided them with expert help, the Croatian Ministry of Defense helped them develop and upgrade production. Very quickly, by 1995, they produced the pistol HS 95. According to its features, their second pistol was already competitive as compared to other pistols that could be found on the world’s market.
They dominate the world’s market with pistol HS 2000, especially the most demanding American one. The American company SPRINGFIELD ARMORY, one of the oldest and most famous American manufacturers of armament was the first to recognize the true quality of that pistol. The long-term contract on cooperation was signed in 2001 and the company Springfield Armory marketed the pistol HS 2000 under the name Springfield XD-9 (XD – Extreme Duty) in calibers 9 mm Para, 40 S&W, .357 SIG, 45 G.A.P and 45 A.C.P. In this way the Croatian manufacturer that had been almost unknown until then, has become world-famed and their annual production and sale at present exceeds the production of the world’s biggest manufacturers of pistols.
After success in the USA, the pistol HS 2000, denoted by the name of HS in 2005 (it is manufactured in over 50 models) has entered several armies and police forces in the world as official weapons, including the USA and Croatia.
Today, HS Produkt employs 1,000 workers, it has state-of-the-art technology for the production of infantry weapons and it is one of the factories with the biggest production of pistols in the world.
VHS assault rifle
The VHS assault rifle has passed through heavy testing and has met all of the CAF’s and NATO’s criteria.
Plans for the development of Croatian assault rifles were set in motion along with the founding of the company and the development of pistols somewhere in the early nineties.
Getting equipped with a new assault rifle was one of the priorities for the modernisation of the CAF, whose official rifle up to now has been the AK-47. Entry into NATO implied the usage of a 5.56 mm calibre weapons, which automatically eliminated all the so-called “Eastern” types and helped give HS products direction that it will pass rigorous testing that are set by the North Atlantic Alliance standards. The VHS rifle is a new product, but its future is
heading towards further equipping of Croatian soldiers.
The HS Produkt “assault rifle” project has confirmed its unquestionable expertise, knowledge, professionalism, consistency and market dynamism.
